Page 271 of Secret Shifters Next Door

After a weekof ignoring and avoiding Blayne, I headed back to my dad’s house to take him to his next chemo treatment. I’d wanted something to take my mind off everything that had happened with Blayne, but a trip to the clinic was not quite what I’d had in mind.

I hadn’t slept well since I’d left Blayne writhing in agony in his backyard. As I reward, I got to take my father to the clinic so he, in turn, would be miserable.

“Hey, sweetie,” Dad said when he opened the passenger-side door.

“Hi, Dad. How’re you feeling?”

Frowning, he shrugged. “Like shit. I haven’t felt good since that last session. I hate this.” He got in and slammed the door. “How is me puking my guts out for days supposed to cure my cancer?”

I reversed down the driveway. “You know how it works, Dad. The doctor explained it all to you, and I printed out all those papers for you to read. Besides, after today, you get a two-week break before the next one.”

“Oh, wow, what a reward,” he said sullenly. He focused on me and narrowed his eyes. “Ava, you look like hell. I thought I was the sick one. Are you all right?”

I didn’t look over at him, not wanting to give him a better look at the dark circles under my eyes. “Haven’t been sleeping well. No big deal.”

“Ava, if taking me to these appointments is too much for you, I can have one of your uncles do this. I don’t want to make your life difficult.”

I barked a laugh. “No way. You’d bail on them the first time you didn’t want to go. When it comes to you, they’ve always been pushovers. There’s no way I’m gonna let you take the easy way out.”

“Your uncles are not pushovers,” Dad argued.

“When was the last time any of them said no to you?”

He opened his mouth to retort, then closed it again. I grinned as he slumped back into his seat, grumbling about it, but he and I both knew I was right.

This time, I didn’t let him talk me out of sitting with him while he was getting the treatment. Seeing the weird port they put into his chest made my skin crawl, so I kept my eyes averted as the nurse hooked the IV up to it and then draped a thin blanket across his chest for him to stay warm. He’d already lost weight. His cheeks were starting to hollow, and he’d lost some of the pudge around his middle.

I sat and read a magazine while he flipped through the channels of the small television they’d set up for him. The volume was at its lowest setting, so he couldn’t hear what he was watching.

Finally, he put the remote down and patted my hand. “Have you heard anything from Blayne Walker? Liam’s brother. I wasn’t sure if you’d seen him since you came back to town.”

My hand froze mid-page-turn. Didn’t he know Blayne and I were neighbors? That told me exactly how worried he was about the cancer. Any other time, he’d have had his people find out the names, ages, and social security numbers of anyone living within three blocks before I even moved in. He’d have also done a background check and had some of his guys knock on the doorsof anyone who raised red flags, “suggesting” that they move immediately.

He’d find out sooner or later, and I had no reason to hide it from him. I decided to tell him everything. Well, everything minus the mating curse and the murderous hunter organization.

“Well, funny you should ask actually. Turns out that house I’m renting is literally right across the street from him.”

My dad looked taken aback. “You guys are neighbors? How’s that going?”

I put the magazine aside and folded my hands in my lap. “Not great. Things haven’t exactly been what you’d callfriendlybetween us.”

Dad banged a hand on the armrest of his chair. Not hard like he was royally pissed, but enough for me to know he wasn’t happy. “That stupid kid. Does he still blame you for Liam’s death after all these years?”

“Apparently. He thinks I’m the reason Liam worked for you.”

“Damn stupid boy. Liam came to me for a job before he met you. He met youbecausehe worked for me. Can’t he get that through his head? Christ, if Blayne wants to be mad, he should be mad at me. If anyone got Liam killed, it was me and my plans.”

The guilt was on all sides. Liam’s death had been a turning point not just for Blayne, but for me as well. I’d done my best to make peace with it, and I wished everyone else would do the same. A person could only mourn so much. Liam had been gone for a decade, but the ache and pain still seemed fresh. Especially for Blayne.

“Dad, you can’t blame yourself. That’s as bad as Blayne blaming me. Liam was a grown-ass man who made his own decisions. He was my best friend, the man I loved, but he was blinded by the money.”

My mind drifted to the fight Liam and I had the night he died. The pain in his eyes. I’d hated to see it there, but I had to make it clear to him that I'd never cared about things. He’d been so confused, hadn’t understood. He and Blayne had grown up poor, and he was hard-wired to always reach for more. More money, more cars, bigger houses. I couldn’t pull him back, and he’d died. But I’d be damned if I or anyone else took the heat for that. He’d done what he’d done becausehewanted to do it.

Dad spoke, jerking me out of my memories. “I hope that boy can come to terms with what happened to Liam. That’s too much hate to hold in your heart.”

Hopefully some of what I’d said to Blayne the other night had sunk in. Dad was right. Blayne was holding onto a lot of anger and hate that would eventually eat him alive. No one deserved to live like that. As much as Blayne kept saying he hated me, he was still Liam’s brother. I’d loved Liam, and by association had cared for his brother. Maybe now that the curse was broken, he could get on with his life.

I got Dad home and helped him upstairs. The session had gone better than the previous one. He hadn’t gotten sick until we’d turned into the driveway. I’d rolled the window down and let him do his business. After making sure Dad was settled in his room, I went to leave, but Uncle Mike stopped me.

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